News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-06-30
SUNDAY sc HOOL LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JULY 3.

JIdCulS ulS OtSC6lb from 1JaV
and then passes to the announcement which
was made to Joseph respecting his origin and
approaching birth. In the narrative of Luke,
OH the other hand, the beginning of the story
is with the birth of Jesus, including, as pre-
paratory to it, what is said of the birth of
John the Baptist and the announcement made
to Mary; and the genealogy, which goes
backward from Jesus Himself to His ancestry,
is given at later point. As Immediately re-
lated to Jesus, the record of Matthew APP
proaches HIS life, as we may say, from the
fathers side, and from the point of view of
genealogical descent; that of Luke approaches
1t from the mothers side, and from the cir
cumstances connected with its beginning. 1t
is natural, therefore, that we find the details
of the story of the birth in Lukes account,
and only mere general allusion to the
fact in the narrative of Matthew. Both
writers, however, agree i'll placing the
birth at Bethlehem, and Luke gives the rea-
son why it happened to occur in that village;
namely, because Joseph was called to go there
for the purpose of an enrolment ordered by
the Roman authorities, as connected with
taxation. The fact that we were obliged to
fill out and adjust the details of the story by
careful comparison of Luke and Matthew
is, in view of what has been stated, not
matter which should occasion difficulty or
surprise. Moreover when we consider the
brevity of both of the narratives, and the
fact that the main interest of the authors of
both Is connected with what followed the be-
ginning of Jesus's public ministry, it cannot
be regarded as strange thing if the complete
adjustment OF the two records to each other
should involve somewhat of conjecture or
should remain, after all our examination, in
some degree of uncertainty. We must re-
member that neither of the two Gospels claims
to be full biography of Jesus, and that, if
the vacant places had been filled up by the
writers, the explanation, which we may now
seek for without assured success, might
easily have been given us. Among the points
of difficulty to which these remarks may APP
ply, Is that Which Is connected with the NEIL
ton of Observation-Disclosures apparently as it
is claimed, regarding this village, and Luke re-
gardlng Nazareth, as the residence of JeSuss
parents before the time of his birth Beth
lehem here referred to is Bethlehem of Judea,
or Bethlehem-Ephratah Micah v, 2, the pas
sage from which verse of this chapter is
quoted. 1t was situated at a distance of
about SIX miles from Jerusalem, and in di-
rectlon somewhat west of south There was
another town called Bethlehem in the region
occupied by the tribe of Zebulon The latter
town was about six miles west of Nazareth,
and IS mentioned once in the Old Testament
Josh. XIX, 80. Bethlehem of Judea was the
birthplace of David; and Luke states that
Joseph went to Bethlehem at the time of the
enrolment because he was of the house and
family of David.-Irl the days of Herod the
king: The birth of Jesus occurred in the
ltSO SSdi VI I1eTOIS LLG according ble D6SU
evidence which we are able to discover
The days here cover the period of Herod's
Official life, but the particular time of the
event alluded to was near the close of
this period. Herod who is here spoken of
is Herod the Great the first of the Herod
family, of which several different representa-
tives are mentioned in the Gospels and the
Acts, The one who is generally called Herod
in the Gospels was Herod the tetrarch, the
son of Herod the Great, and appointed te-
trarch of Galilee by his fathers will. He was
the one to whom Jesus was sent by Plate
duke xiii, f. He died A D. So The
one who is spoken Of as Herod in the twelfth
chapter of the Acts, and the account of whose
death Is there given, was Herod Agrippa, the
first OF that name, who was a grandson of
Herod the Great, and nephew of Herod the
tetrarch. The other members of the Herod
family who are alluded to in the New Tesla
ment are designated by other names: Archie
laus Matt. ii, 22l, Philip-tirst Matt. xiv,
8: Mark vi, 10, Philip-second luke Ill, y,
Agrlppa-Herod Agrippa the second (Acts
XIV, 13). OF these, the aforementioned was
the son or Herod Agrippa the first, and the
greatgrandSon OF Herod the Great while the
other three We're sons of Herod the Great, and
brothers, or half brothers, of Herod the
tetrarch. The cruelty and wickedness of this
family, and particularly of Herod the Great
are well known from history which is outside
of the New Testament records and the cir
cumstanceS mentioned in this chapter as con-
nected with Herod's action are fully in ac-
cordance with his character.-BehOId, triSe
men from the .St came to Jerusalem: The
margin of the Revised Version reads ''Magi,n
and refers the reader to Esther l., -, and
Daniel il, II. The Insertion of the word
'Magin in the text might well have com
mended itself to the Revisers. These men
were the wiSe men of the region from which
they came, notin the ordinary Specification of
that term merely, but in the technical sense,
II we may so express it. They were origin
ally Distinguishing isTics6ly caste, and they
devoted themselves particularly to astronom-
Ical or astrological pursuits and investigations:
and tie Magi here alluded to, whether of the
prlestly order or not, We're doubtless men who
observed the movements and changes of the
heavenly bodies, and, in connection with
these observations, were led to expect the &C.
cuTrence OF great events in the world This
is rendered probableby the statements Of the
narrative here given, as well as by what we
know of the Magi class from other sources
The region which Matthew deSignates as
''the east cannot be determined with GER
tainty: but there can be little doubt that it was
either Arabia or Persia, and more probably,
as it would seem, it was Persia. The words
''from the east" in the grammatical connec-
ton of the sentence, are quite probably to be
joined with ''Magi," rather than with the
verb. These Magi were doubtless heather, as
is indicated by their question, which marks
the Jews as distinct body from themselves
aod their countrymen.
Verse 2.-Saying, Where is He that is born,
King Of the Je,oS? This question was, no
doubt, presented to such leading men or
authorities in Jerusalem as they were able to
meet. They do not seem to have come before
Herod at first, but more probably they con-
suited some of the scribes or chief priests, the
whole company of whom is mentioned in
verse 4. As Meyer remarks: 1.-The ex-
pectation of the Jews, that their Messiah was
to rule over the world, might at that period
have been sufficiently disseminated through
out the foreign countries of the East to lead
heather aStrologeIs for the object in ques-
ton, to the Jewish capital" The writer of
the Gospel was, no doubt, impressed with
this testimony, as it were, borne to the
Messiah and to Jesus as the Messiah,
by these representatives of the Gentle
nations; and thus he records the story for the
purpose of setting before his readers this
testimony las well as because Of the wonderful
appearance of the star.-F'Or iCe SdlU his star
IN the east, and are come to Worship him:
The words lin the east in this sentence are
supposed by some to mean "at its rising" the
Greek word here used being commonly in the
plural, as in verse |, where it means the
East" whereas here 1t is in the singular. 1t
is not improbable that this view of the mean
ing is correct, but it cannot be affirmed that
it is SO beyond question, for the singular of
this noun is sometimes used to denote 1.-The
East" The word worship here may mean
to 'do homage or 'show reverence" but it
may refer to an act of religious alteration.
There would seem to have been in the minds
of the Magi desire and hope for light in the
line of the messianic idea, at least i'll some
sense or degree
Verse 3.-And 1ohen Herod the King heard
it, he 'CdS troubled, and all Jerusalem lcith
hlD: The form OF expression seems to indi-
cate that Herod did not know of the arrival
of the Magi and the object of their visit until
some time after they had reached the city.
When he received the information, he was
troubled. The Verb m this case conveys the
idea of being agitated by reason of fear or
dread as to the possible consequences to him
self. The agitation of mind on the part of
the people OF Jerusalem, on the other hand,
had reference more probably to the conSe
quences which might result for themselves.
" neither Hero1 should finally loss his throne
because of this new King or not, the people
would be likely to suffer through the violent
measures which he might adopt for the Sc
curity of his own power and the overthrow
of HIS adversary. 1.-The people, worn away
by solutions and slaughterS," says Afford,
'leared fresh tumuits and wars" They
feared them especially, SO far as they were
not devoted paIISans of Herod, in view of
what they had reason to apprehend from him.
SO far as they were his partisans, on the
other hand, they feared the possible deStruc
ton of their leader and themselves.
Verse And gathering together all the
chief priests and scri6eS of the people, he
inquired Of them tuIere the Christ should be
born: 1t Is uncertain whether the words of
this verse refer to a formal meeting of the
Jewish Sanhedrin, of which the scribes and
chief-priests We're members, or not. More
probably, Herod summoned a large company
of these men who were learned in this mat
ter, and submitted the question to them as
na1m h., Iii,
the council OF the nation. The frequency with
which the term nhinf nrieSt ncclIrS in the